White Castle sued by overweight burger-lover

A White Castle fan is upset that he can’t fit into the chain’s booths. (Like_the_Grand_Canyon / Flickr Creative Commons)

A 290-pound diner claims the White Castle chain has violated the civil rights of its more sizable clientele by not following through on promises to make its tight booths bigger to accommodate their bellies.

Martin Kessman, a 64-year-old New Yorker, filed a complaint after he could barely squeeze into the fast-food restaurants booths and bumped his knees on the table’s metal supports, the New York Post reported.

Though White Castle said they would make the booths bigger, there’s been no change. The seating’s still too small for Kessman, who now sends his wife to get his sliders… to go, the Post said.

From the story.

“They sent me specs and everything, about how the booths were going to be enlarged and made comfortable for people with a little more weight,” Kessman said. “So two and a half years went by, and nothing was done.”

The Rockland County man says the chain’s uncomfortable booths violate the civil rights of fat people.

The Americans with Disabilities Act is “applicable, not only to me, but to pregnant women and to handicapped people,” he said.

“I just want to sit down like a normal person,” said Kessman, who is suing for bigger chairs and unspecified damages.

Kessman could have approached a store manager and asked for a regular chair, said White Castle spokeswoman Jamie Richardson, who had no timetable for the expected renovation of the Nanuet store.